Military
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A short distance inside these woods stood Robert E. Lee’s last headquarters, where on April 8, 1865, he held his final council of war, on April 10 he issued his farewell order to his army, and on April 12 he departed for home across a devastated landscape to war-ravaged Richmond. Major General John B. Gordon recalled the night of April 8 as a meeting without tent, chairs, or camp stools, with the commanders seated on blankets spread upon the ground or on saddles around Lee, whose clouded face reflected the anguish of the moment. Lee and his commanders decided there to make one last effort to break past the approaching Union columns, to be attempted the next morning, April 9, on the fields and ridges west of the village. When that effort failed, the last hope of saving Lee’s army passed with it.
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Appomattox, Virginia · United States
